This year, the grain production reports from all over the country have come up, and Hetao, Youzhou, Taiyuan and other places have obtained bumper harvests.

Handan, Yejun, Tao and Jixi counties in the southernmost part of Zhao were affected by the drought, and their output was only half of last year's.

The situation in Zhao is still good, Han and Wei, as well as the Huaibei region of Chu State, the grain production is only three or four percent of the previous one, and there are even some places that have been dry for several months, and there is no harvest of grains, and all parts of the Central Plains have suffered from large-scale famine.

The local government frequently held a sacrifice to the sky, sacrificing the rain master, and even the king of Wei, Han, and Chu also held many ceremonies to worship the sky and pray for rain, but it was useless.

Not only did it not rain, but it became more drought, and the riverbed cracked in many places, revealing deep ravines, and the seeds had not yet germinated in the ground, and the wheat that had sprouted was gradually drying up.

Tall water wheels were abandoned in the fields, no one looked at them again, and the water in the wells became less and less, and finally disappeared completely.

Everyone began to cut back on food and clothing, just after the autumn harvest, the government only collected half a tax, they can save money and hold on for a while, only hope that when the spring of next year comes, the sky can rain, at least there will be wild vegetables to eat, the bark to gnaw, will not starve to death.

The situation of Qi is slightly better, although there is a drought, but it is not serious, and the state of Qi has surplus grain, after listening to Li Si's advice, the king of Qi directly exempted the whole country from agricultural taxes, which has been praised by many Qi people.

"Great King, the Heavenly Supervisor has returned, they have checked all the climate and hydrological records of the Central Plains in the past hundred years, and this drought is likely to continue for a while." Guo Kai leaned over and said.

"It's going to go on for a while...... The territory of my Zhao State is vast, but it can be sustained, and the people of Han and Wei will suffer." Zhao Kuo sighed.

"My lord, the minister doesn't understand. Although I, Zhao and Han Wei, are allies, they are not one country after all. And the two countries have been enemies of our Zhao State many times, isn't it a good thing for our Zhao State that they are suffering?" Guo Kai asked puzzled.

Zhao Kuo cares about the people of his own country, he can understand, after all, this is a benevolent monarch recognized by all the sons and hundreds of schools and the whole country of Zhao, but as the monarch of Zhao State, is it a bit too much to worry about the people of other countries.

If you let the king of Wei and the king of Han know, you still think that you are ready to annex the two countries.

"Both Korea and Wei, like my Zhao State, are all part of Zhuxia. The Zhao people are the people of the widows, and the Han and Wei people are also the people of the widows." Zhao Kuo said.

"The king has a mind for eternity, and the people of the world will be very moved when they hear it." Guo Kai said, but he didn't think so.

"Did Korea and Wei make any moves?" Zhao Kuo looked at Liu Ping.

"King Yu, the Wei State is transferring grain from Hedong to Daliang, South Korea has no action, South Korea's Sanchuan County is less affected by the drought, but Sanchuan has been ravaged by the war, ten rooms and nine empty, a large amount of farmland is barren, no one cultivates, and grain production is really limited." Liu Ping said.

"Then let's wait, it's not convenient for us to be too proactive in this matter." Zhao Kuo said, "Send people to pay close attention to the famine in the two countries, and if there is a large-scale escape, notify the widows immediately."

"No." Liu Ping said with his fists clenched.

……

On the other side, Yuan Hua and Zhao Mu led the fleet all the way south, through the Strait of Malacca, into the Indian Ocean, and soon arrived at the largest port city in the eastern part of the Mauryan Empire, Tamma Lidi City.

Ah Shande personally greeted him at the port, and after seeing Zhao Mu, he happily stepped forward to shake hands: "After returning to China, I have been worried about whether you can get here from the sea, but I didn't expect you to really accomplish this feat. Your Zhao Kingdom is indeed stronger than our Peacock Dynasty in this regard."

The Mauryan Empire also played with shipping, and even engaged in maritime trade a long time ago, but basically it was trade with the Seleucid Empire, and it was also an offshore voyage, and it had never crossed such a far.

In addition to technical reasons, it is important to note that there was no nearby country other than the Seleucid Empire that could be used for trade.

Compared with the previous two countries, the rest of the countries are not a grade at all, not only the difference in strength, it can be said that compared with the other regions around the Mauryan Dynasty, they are not as good as the uncivilized savages

Many.

The Mauryan Empire has pursued culture and economy, and these regions are still playing with stones and walnuts.

What do you trade with the other party?

Just like the Central Plains, the technology of navigation was pointed out hundreds of years ago, but no one has ever thought of engaging in trade from the sea, is it that they don't want to?

Not.

It's because there is not even a trade object, and the surrounding places are barbaric places compared to the Central Plains, and there is nothing that the Central Plains can see.

It was not until the Maritime Silk Road was opened up that the Central Plains opened the door to maritime trade.

"Long time no see. But this time I am not the main envoy, the main envoy of my Zhao State caravan is this, he is the commander of my Zhao State Navy, Yuan Hua. I'm just supporting him." Zhao Mu pointed at Yuan Hua and said with a smile.

"Your Majesty Yuan Hua, look up for a long time." Ashande said enthusiastically.

He knew Zhao Mu's status in the Zhao State, which was equivalent to his status in the Peacock Dynasty, but he could only serve as a deputy envoy, and the main envoy was this commander named Yuan Hua.

What is the position of commander-in-chief? King?

Ah Shande studied the Zhao Chinese dialect hard for a while in Zhao Kingdom, and has been able to communicate normally, but he still does not understand some terms.

The system of the Mauryan Dynasty and the Zhao State was different, although the Zhao State also had many feudal monarchs, but these feudal monarchs were essentially ministers of the Zhao State, and could not legislate privately or recruit troops.

Although the Mauryan Dynasty was also centralized, it was more similar to the feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty, with many independent or semi-independent tribes in the territory, and the governors of the border provinces were basically served by princes or other clans, and their power was almost the same as that of the monarch, somewhat similar to the governor of Zhao, but the power was greater than that of the governor.

Moreover, the governor of Zhao was only appointed for a short period of time, usually after five or ten years, while the Mauryan Dynasty was permanent.

Ah Shande felt that the position of commander Yuan Hua was at least equivalent to the governor of the border provinces of the Peacock Dynasty, and even a grade higher, otherwise it would be impossible to let Zhao Mu, the younger brother of the monarch, rank behind.

"Don't dare, don't dare, don't dare to call Your Majesty." Yuan Hua hurriedly waved his hand, almost being scared out of a cold sweat by Ah Shande. If this is spread to Zhao State, and then provoked by someone with a heart, he will not be able to keep his head.

Ah Shande looked at Zhao Mu suspiciously.

"Just call him General Yuan." Zhao Mu said with a smile, he didn't care, he knew that it was caused by the cultural differences between the two sides.

"General Yuan, brother-in-law, please come here." Asander said as he walked, "We'll rest for the day at Tamma Chestnut and head to Fahrenheit tomorrow."

"It's up to you." Zhao Mu said, "We have brought a lot of silk and porcelain from China this time, do you want to take a look first?"

"It's fine." Ashande couldn't wait to say that the climate of the Mauryan Dynasty was hot, and even in winter, it was not cold, and he preferred to wear silk clothes on his body.

"Are all these ships silk and porcelain?" Ah Shande pointed to dozens of big ships in the port, and said excitedly, if they are all sold, how much gold and silver can be exchanged for.

"Half of the ships were filled with silk and porcelain, but there were also some tea, paper, glass, lacquerware, and so on. On the way here, two ships capsized, and all the porcelain fell into the sea." Zhao Mu said.

"It's a pity." Ah Shande sighed, he had seen porcelain in Zhao Kingdom, it was the most exquisite porcelain he had ever seen in his life, and each one was a treasure.

"It's nothing, everyone has been saved, and the loss of porcelain will be lost." Zhao Mu said.

"This time...... Do we go straight to the official deal, or do we ...... Do you trade on your own? If you go through the official transaction, the price will be relatively low, but it will save a lot of trouble. If you trade on your own, you will need to pay taxes to our Mauryan Dynasty according to the regulations, but I, the Mauryan Dynasty, will provide you with protection." Ashander said.

"Sixty percent of them go through official deals, and the remaining forty percent are traded by ourselves." Zhao Mu said.

"Yes. Coins or goods?" Ashande nodded.

"Grain and cotton are the mainstay, followed by gold, silver, copper, and iron. Spices and jade again." Zhao Mu said.

「

Grain and cotton ...... You don't have enough boats." Ah Shande looked at the merchant ships behind Zhao Mu, even if one of the ships was full of silk, the grain exchanged would be able to fill all the merchant ships.

"So we're going to buy some sea ships from the Mauryan Empire." Zhao Mu said.

"There is no problem with this, although the sea ships of my Peacock Dynasty are not as good as your Zhao Kingdom, they will not be much worse." Ah Shande patted his chest and said, as for Zhao Guo stealing technology or something, he really didn't think about it.

He always felt that Zhao was more prosperous and powerful than the Mauryan Dynasty, and his sea ships and navigation skills surpassed those of the Mauryan Dynasty, and he did not need to learn the techniques of the Mauryan Dynasty in turn.

"Thank you, brother. It's a gift to my brother." Zhao Mu clapped his hands, and four soldiers walked over carrying two boxes.

Zhao Mu opened the box, revealing a box full of silk and porcelain, and the dazzling luster made Ah Shande a little unable to open his eyes.

"My brother-in-law has a heart." Ah Shande held Zhao Mu's hands tightly, and pulled Yuan Hua towards the city, "Let's go, let's go to the city to drink."

Zhao Mu secretly gave Bai Ling a look, and Bai Ling nodded knowingly.

"General, see if we can unload the goods, some of which we plan to sell in Tamma Chestnut City." Bai Ling led a few people carrying a box of silk to the general of the Mauryan Dynasty, bowed down, and spoke in fluent Mauryan dialect.

The stubble-covered general picked up a silk horse, and a large calloused hand stroked back and forth on the silk, which seemed to be smoother than the skin of his concubine, and his stiff face suddenly bloomed into a chrysanthemum-like smile, and he waved his big hand and said, "You several, immediately vacate the open space and unload them with a big hand."

"Need our help?" General Stubble said kindly, and the soldier next to him almost dropped his jaw in shock, for so many years, he had never seen the general talk to people so kindly, even if Ah Shande came, he had a pine bark face.

"Thank you, General, we'll just come by ourselves." Bai Ling smiled and said, "By the way, you haven't asked the general's name yet?"

"Just call me Depai." General Stubble said.

"I don't know if the general is free, but I have something I want to ask the general about below." Bai Ling said.

"Just say something here." It seems that the De faction still has some insistence, and it was not immediately bought by Bailing.

"I would like to ask the general, which big families are doing business or what are the big merchants in Tanma Lidi or some nearby cities?" Bai Ling asked.

"Well, the two largest families in Tamma Lidi are the Sain family and the Roma family, both of them are in business, and in addition, there are some medium-sized families......" Seeing that Bai Ling's questions were all related to business, the German faction did not hide it, what did he say.

The Zhao caravan alone to trade with the merchant was allowed by Ah Shande, and there was no need for him to stop it.

Bai Ling silently wrote down the names of the families reported by the Depai, and after returning to the inn, he distributed them to the merchants below, asking them to investigate the main business scope of each family.

Because Ashande said it first, and this was not the first time that the Zhao State caravan had entered the Peacock Dynasty, the Peacock Dynasty did not specifically arrange people to keep an eye on every Zhao State merchant.

The next day, Yuan Hua and Zhao Mu led most of the merchant ships up the Ganges River and followed Ashande to Hua's city.

Bai Ling and some of the merchants stayed in Tamma Chestnut City with the rest of the goods.

"The Sain family mainly deals in farm tools, salt, and war horses...... The Roma family, mainly engaged in shipbuilding, iron smelting...... It's this family, and we should be able to exchange some shipwrights and blacksmiths." Bai Ling thought in his heart.

Although the shipbuilding technology and iron smelting technology of the Mauryan Dynasty are not as good as those of the Zhao State, there are still many merits, if the Zhao State can absorb the technology of the Mauryan Dynasty, apply and improve it, and integrate it into the Zhao State, the shipbuilding and iron smelting of the Zhao State will usher in a new development.

"As they said, there are still some small countries in the south of the Mauryan Empire, what is it called the Tamil Kingdom, the Chola Kingdom, the Ayi Kingdom, and the Anuradhapura Kingdom, it seems that the Mauryan Dynasty is not really unified, and it is similar to my Zhao Kingdom. But let's start with the technique

These countries will let go first." Bai Ling thought in his heart.

Those who can survive next to the Mauryan Empire are either powerful countries that can compete with the Mauryan Empire, or small countries with poor climatic conditions that will not pose a threat to the Mauryan Empire, and the Mauryan Empire does not look down on them at all.

Obviously, the latter is more likely.

In fact, it is precisely because of the perennial high temperatures, little rainfall and harsh climatic conditions in the southern part of the Indian peninsula that it has been preserved for a long time and has not been invaded by other large countries.

"Someone." Bai Ling shouted outside the door.

"Young master." A servant walked in from outside.

"Send these invitations out and don't make a mistake." Bai Ling said.

If nothing else, these families should have received news of the Zhao fleet, and the name of Zhao silks has already resounded at the top of the Peacock Dynasty. Now I hold the lifeblood of these people in my hands, as long as I show goodwill, I am not afraid that these people will not take the bait.